Epron is also simultaneously running a crowdsourcing campaign for the production of his Massilia, due out at Spiel 2012, and this campaign is running on the French site Ulule.

• Cryptozoic Entertainment has set an April 2012 release date for The Big Bang Theory: The Party Game. The television show has a number of fans on BGG – or so I'm led to believe based on past comments on BGG News – so I thought I'd best mention the game's imminent release here.

• Alcatraz: The Scapegoat, which debuted at Spiel 2011, is going to be released by Z-Man Games, according to Piotr Żuchowski of Kuźnia Gier, the game's original publisher. For background detail on the game and its development, read this designer diary on BGG News from co-designer Rafał Cywicki.

• Steve Jackson Games has announced six new colors of Cthulhu Dice for release in May 2012, along with a new set of six Munchkin Level Counters. The expansions keep rolling along, yes they do, yes they do...

• GMT Games is including six extra cards with Dominant Species: The Card Game as a bonus for those who preorder the game directly from the publisher. These cards will later be sold via the BGG Store. For more on what will be included – and why the existence of these cards doesn't make everyone a happy camper – head to this thread on BGG.

• And speaking of promos that will both please and displease many gamers, Alderac Entertainment Group has announced that Thunderstone Advance: Towers of Ruin – which officially goes on sale March 12, 2012 – will be available for early play at various brick-and-mortar game stores during a prerelease "Level Up Event" the week of March 2-8. In addition to being able to buy the game early at such events, players who do so will receive a free 25-card Avatars mini-expansion – an expansion that will be sold later for $10. I've included a somewhat grainy image of sample Avatar cards below.